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Mother sought in child endangerment case

Posted: Tuesday, July 08, 2003

ANCHORAGE (AP) A Wasilla woman accused of allowing her 15-year-old daughter to have a sexual relationship with a 31-year-old cousin tried to hire someone to sneak the man out of the state, according to Alaska State Troopers.

The woman, whose daughter is pregnant by the man, has been charged with hindering prosecution, according to court documents. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.

According to charging documents filed in state court in Palmer, the girl's mother, who is 37, called a former co-worker last week and asked him to drive the girl's cousin across the border into Canada. Troopers had been looking for the man since late June, when he was charged with sexually assaulting the teen.

In exchange for taking the cousin into Canada, the girl's mother promised to give the co-worker the family's 1994 Dodge truck and a three-wheel all-terrain vehicle, court documents say.

The co-worker alerted troopers to the plan, according to an affidavit filed by troopers Investigator Ron Hayes.

The co-worker agreed to meet the girl's cousin on July 4 at the Settlers Bay post office south of Wasilla and then drive to the border.

Officers were waiting when the cousin arrived around 9 a.m., Sgt. Dallas Massie said. He is being held at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Troopers are looking for the girl's mother. Besides the hindering prosecution charge facing her, both parents are charged with endangering the welfare of a minor.

According to charging documents, both parents knew about the relationship between the girl and her cousin. They told troopers they saw nothing wrong with it because the Bible said it was OK.

Troopers found out about the case when a friend of the girl told her grandmother. The grandmother alerted troopers.